Geoff, Tisha top Amazing Race Asia 3 HK-Macau leg

Filipino racers Geoff Rodriguez and Tisha Silang emerged the winners of the Hong Kong to Macau leg of the "Amazing Race Asia 3" after a road detour allowed them to overtake race leaders Sam Wu and Vince Chung.
Geoff and Tisha, who started second in the race, were close on the heels of the boys from Hong Kong who always managed to stay one step ahead of them. Making the race even more difficult were the other teams A.D. Chan and Fuzzie Sirajudin from Singapore, siblings Bernie and Henry Chan from Malaysia and Ida Nerina and Tania Khan, also from Malaysia.
The 26-year-old Geoff, however, made a tactical decision during a detour in Macau where they were asked to choose between Dance or Chance. In Dance, the two players had to learn and complete a lion dance to receive their next clue. In Chance, the team had to win nine hands of blackjack in a casino against a professional dealer to receive the clue.
Geoff wisely chose the Dance challenge but not without some difficulty. At one point, he even slipped and fell on the wet pavement as he tried to learn the difficult lion dance.
In the end, Team Philippines was able to finish their task ahead of Sam and Vince who had to finish their nine winning hands of blackjack. The slight time difference allowed the Filipinos to race to A-ma Cultural Village and complete one final task -- to complete the correct sequence of the Chinese Zodiac -- and on to the pit stop for the win.
For winning the Hong Kong-Macau leg, the two each won a 40-inch Sony Bravia and a Sony Playstation 3.
Yielding the Chans
Geoff and Tisha made several tactical decisions in the Hong Kong - Macau leg that would give them a slight advantage over the other teams.
After getting goldish at Mong Kok, Hong Kong, the teams were told to board a ferry to Macau where they would be asked to climb the 338-meter Macau Tower.
Sam and Vince were the first to leave on a ferry to Macau but Geoff and Tisha outsmarted the three other teams by offering to buy tickets from passengers already in line on a ferry that was already leaving.
In Macau, Vince was able to climb the tower first followed by Geoff. Team Philippines, however, decided to "yield" Henry and Bernie, forcing the Malaysian team to stay in one spot until an hourglass had run out.
"The yield just gives me an excuse not to be nice anymore," said an irritated Henry.
After the time lapse, the Malaysians ran into the Philippine team at the tower as Geoff finished the task. Geoff and Tisha, however, preferred to keep quiet since they knew that the Malaysian team was still angry.
"I wanted to tell them that it was just business," said Tisha as footage showed Henry sitting some distance away from her.
Henry also called the Philippine team "scum" and told the other teams that there was a bad smell in the area after the Filipinos had left.
Wet and wild leg
The Hong Kong -Macau leg was also one of the most rain-soaked phases of the race. As rain started pouring, the remaining team members who had yet to complete the climb atop Macau Tower were allowed to climb only at a certain height of the tower before going back down.
Vince and Sam were the first to arrive at Dragon Boat Pier in Sai Van Lake where they were asked to paddle a dragon boat. The Singapore team then ran to do the Chance detour where they played blackjack and on to second place in the race.
Henry and Bernie were able to overtake AD and Fuzzie at the Chance detour but were unlucky in getting a taxi going to the pit stop. In the end, they placed fourth in the race while AD and Fuzzie placed third.
Ida and Tania placed last in the race but were not eliminated because it was a predetermined leg where no one would be eliminated. As a consequence, however, the team must take first place in the next leg or incur a 30-minute penalty in the subsequent leg of the race.-abs-cbnNEWS.com